CLASSES or INDIANS. 
241 
*Jid Ventuari, live the Macos, the Salives, the Curacicauas, 
“areeas, and Maquiritares, mild, tranquil tribes, addicted to 
Agriculture, and easily subjected to the discipline of the 
fissions. The Indian of the plains differs from the Indian 
the forests in language as well as manners and mental 
'^position ; both have an idiom abounding in spirited and 
’’old terms ; but the language of the former is harsher, more 
c °ncise, and more impassioned; that of the latter, softer, 
'“°re diffuse, and fuller of ambiguous expressions. 
The Mission of Atures, like most of the Missions of the 
'Jrinoco, situated between the mouths of the Apurc and the 
r-tabapo, is composed of both the classes of tribes we have 
]Ust described. We there find the Indians of the forests, 
And the Indians heretofore nomadic* ( Indios monteros and 
Kuios llcmeros, or andantes). We visited with the mis- 
^wiary the huts of Macos, whom the Spaniards call Piraoas, 
"'Jd those of the Guahibos. The first indicated more love 
i order, cleanliness, and ease. The independent Macos (I 
0 not designate them by the name of savages) have their 
or fixed dwellings, two or three days’ journey east 
r,,Atures, toward the sources of the little river Cataniapo. 
lle .Y are very numerous. Like most of the natives of the 
. °ods, they cultivate, not maize, but cassava ; and they live 
great harmony with the Christian Indians of the mission. 
j,N le harmony was established and wisely cultivated by the 
, r anciscan monk, Bernardo Zea. This alcalde of the re- 
^eed Macos quitted the village of Atures for a few months 
year, to live in the plantations which he possessed in 
midst of the forests near the hamlet of the independent 
of tv° S ' consequence of this peaceful intercourse, many 
(i Indios monteros came and established themselves some 
g , ? a g° in the mission. They asked eagerly for knives, 
hooks, and those coloured glass-beads, which, not- 
oqi \ s * :anc ^ 11 g the positive prohibition of the priests, were 
c. P.yed not as necklaces, but as ornaments of the guayuco 
t^ ri zoma). Having obtained what they sought, they re- 
in e ®ploy the word nomadic as synonymous with wandering, and not 
Ui e j Primitive signification. The wandering nations of America (those o( 
'hah • e "- OUS 'rites, it is to be understood) are never shepherds; they 
Pith Je "“ting and hunting, on the fruit of a few trees, the farinaceous 
ot palm-trees, &c. 
AOI,. 
II. 
